AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D & 9900X3D opinions verify Ryzen 7 continues to be method higher worth for gaming

AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D and 9900X3D opinions have lastly arrived a few months after AMD initially revealed these new X3D processors at CES 2025. The 2 new chips are the 3D V-Cache upgrades for the Ryzen 9 9950X and Ryzen 9 9900X, respectively, the previous of which galvanized us with glorious artificial and gaming scores worthy of the flagship title.

The primary X3D CPU within the 9000 collection arrived on the again finish of final 12 months. We’re, in fact, speaking concerning the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D, which proper now holds the tile as the most effective CPU for gaming. Now that 9950X3D and 9900X3D opinions have been revealed on-line, we are able to see that little or no competes with them as all-rounder processors – however gaming benchmarks paint a unique image.

Specs

• Cores: 8
• Threads: 16
• Enhance clock pace: 5.2GHz
• Base clock pace: 4.7GHz
• L3 cache: 96MB
• TDP: 120W
• Platform: AM5

9950X3D overview & 9900X3D overview roundup

The very first thing to say is that almost all of {hardware} reviewers have caught to the 16-core flagship 9950X3D – only a few have really reviewed the 12-core 9900X3D. Likewise, we count on the 9950X3D to be the extra fashionable of the 2; the choice has at all times been in a little bit of a wierd spot for us. Regardless, let’s take a look at what reviewers needed to say.

TechPowerUp (9950X3D)

Beginning with TechPowerUp, probably the greatest {hardware} reviewers on the market in case you’re on the lookout for a complete listing of benchmarks. rendering, the flagship GPU is a step above its non-X3D counterpart, marginally dropping behind Intel’s flagship 285K in Cinebench 2024 scores, although it’s on the prime of the desk in Blender.

As for gaming, 720p exams (paired with the RTX 5090) present that the Ryzen 7 9800X3D stays 6.8% sooner on common than the 9950X3D at inventory settings; even the 7800X3D is barely higher in some video games, equivalent to Alan Wake 2 and Cyberpunk 2077.

Tom’s {Hardware} (9950X3D)

Shifting on to the Tom’s {Hardware} overview of the 9950X3D, let’s focus a bit extra on the professionals and cons somewhat than efficiency. Giving the flagship processor 4.5 out of 5 stars, they name it a “16-core monster” that provides glorious productiveness alongside its gaming boosts from the X3D know-how – it’s additionally totally overclockable like the remainder of the 9000 collection. The 9950X3D will probably be priced ranging from $699, and that is solely the true draw back. The worth could also be value it for all the additional cores in case you’re targeted on productiveness workflows, however for gaming, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D at $479 (MSRP) stays significantly better worth for cash.

KitGuru (9900X3D)

For the 9900X3D, we advocate turning your consideration to KitGuru. They’ve posted a YouTube overview of the brand new 12-core mannequin, which incorporates benchmarks of the flagship to check towards as nicely. In artificial benchmarks, the 9900X3D usually sits simply above its non-X3D mannequin in multi-core benchmarks, behind Intel’s i7-14700K. As anticipated, the 12-core chip outperforms the 9800X3D in these sorts of exams.

Shifting over to gaming, you most likely know what to anticipate by now. The 9900X3D stays behind the 9800X3D in gaming benchmarks, sitting just under the 9950X3D.

Conclusion

These opinions and benchmark outcomes once more reinforce that there’s no must go for these Ryzen 9 processors if gaming is your main use case; the additional money isn’t actually value it. The Ryzen 7 9800X3D is greater than sufficient and may even outperform the opposite two for gaming particularly. When you’re questioning why, all of it comes right down to the CCD designs. The Ryzen 7 chip has a single 8-core CCD that homes its 3D V-Cache, whereas the Ryzen 9 fashions are cut up between two CCDs; 3D V-Cache is housed on simply considered one of them as an alternative of each.

Nevertheless, for energy customers performing some extra heavy lifting with rendering, streaming, or different intensive workloads, the 9950X3D will probably be your finest guess – the 9900X3D once more feels prefer it’s in a wierd middle-ground for us, particularly with AMD asserting it is going to set you again $599.